Title

colorful candles

Problem Scenario

I would like to find out what candle burns longest so I can get my moneys worth when buying candles.

Broad Question

Which candle burns fastest?

Specific Question

How does the color of a candle effect the time it takes for the candle wick to burn out?

Hypothesis

If I burn multiple colored candles and white candles then the candles will burn out at the same time.
The dyes are mostly organic chemicals derived primarily from petroleum, and are soluble in liquid (molten) wax. This is not enough of a substance difference from pure candles to make the time it takes to burn change.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

The independent variable is the color of the candle that is being burned.

Dependent Variable:

the dependent variable is the time it takes the candles wick to burn out.

Controlled Variable:

The control variable is the plain candle I will burn.

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

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General Plan

I will measure the time it takes a plain candle to burn out for a control. I will then burn a red unscented candle with the same mass and volume and measure the time it takes to burn out.I will also take pictures of the candle every ten minutes. I will then compare the two times and make conclusions on why or why not the time were different.

Potential Problems And Solutions

a potential problem would be not being able to find equally sized plain and red unscented candle. solution: finding one size to cut different sized candles down to and measuring them out and cutting them to size. Another porblem is that the candles could go out without me knowing. Solution: I will stay in the room with the candle 100% of the time it is burning.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

A safety concern would the fumes of the candle. Solution: I can wear a doctors mask over my face while in the room with the candle. Another safety concern would be burning myself with the match when lighting the candle. Solution: long match stick to keep my fingers from the flame.

Experimental Design

Number Of Trials:

3 trials for each

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
plain candle	3	store	2$
red candle	3	store	2$
matches	6	my house	0$
stop watch	1	my house	0$
green candles	3	store	2$
blue candles	3	store	2$
orange candles	3	store	2$
purple candles	3	store	2$

Detailed Procedure

step1: buy 3 plain candles
step2: buy 3 red candles, 3 blue candles, 3 purple candles, 3 orange candles and 3 green candles
step3: gather 6 matches
step4: gather 1 stopwatch
step5: cut all candles down to one size
step6: light the wick of the plain candle
step7: start stopwatch
step8: take pictures of the candle every 10 minutes
step9: make observations
step10: stop stopwatch when the candle burns out
step11: repeat steps 6-9 with orange blue pruple red and green candles
step12: do experiment 3 times for each colored candle
step13: gather data
step14: analyze data
step15: make inferences and conclusions on my data
step16: organize my analyzed data and conclusions and inferences into a poster
step17: present poster to school
step18: present poster to judges at mwv regional science fair

Diagram

Photo List

pictures of each colored candle every 20 mins
picture of candles every time one goes out

Time Line

feb 2 buy candles needed
feb 3 start experiments
feb 3 collect all my data
feb 4 analyze data
feb 5 make inferences and conclusions on data
feb 20 organize data into poster

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Data Table

I will measure in minutes hours etc... how long it takes each candle to burn out. I will then graph this data and make inferences and conclusions.

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Data Analysis

The data I collected showed a few patterns. They were that the color blue and derivations of blue burned the hottest, they left the least amount of residue on the candle holder. Also I noticed that the first three candles to burn out were always the first three cadnles to burn out and the last three candles were the same to go out in the same order, red, yellow and white. in fact red burned out within 1 minute ten seconds of the time it burned out in trial one and trial two. I saw that the darker colored candles burned out a little bit fasted than the lighter colored candles.

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

Results

my results showed that the darker colored candles burned a little bit faster than lighter colored candles

Conclusion

My hypothesis was that if I burn multiple colored candles and white candles at the same time, all the candles will burn out at relatively the same time. This is because the dyes are mostly organic chemicals derived primarily from petroleum. They are soluble in liquid (molten) wax.There is not enough of a substance difference between colored and white candles to make the time it takes to burn change, therefore the candles will burn out within a close time of each other.
This hypothesis was incorrect. The data showed that the time the candles burned out depended on the color of the wax. If the dye in the wax was a dark color the candle burned a little quicker, and the opposite goes for light colors. If its a lighter color, the candle burned a little slower. The answer to my question, "how does the color of a candle effect the time it takes the candle to burn out?" is that if the candle's color is darker, the candle will burn a little quicker and the opposite goes for lighter colored candles.

Discussion

The data that I collected had a few patterns. The first three candles to burn out were the first three candles to burn out in all trials. The last three candles went out in the same order, red, yellow and then white, in every trial. Another pattern that I noticed was that the color blue and derivations of blue burned the hottest; they left the least amount of wax residue in the candle holder.
I was very easily able to answer my experimental question; "how does the color of a candle effect the time it takes for the candle to burn out?" The answer I came to was that darker colored candles burn faster. the opposite goes for the lighter colored candles.
The only problems or errors I came across were uncontrollable variables such as wicks burning differently, uncontrolled airflow and slightly different levels of wax. I think that the experiment could be improved by running more trials and by having a more controlled room with no one entering and causing air pressure disturbance for the burn.
This experiment could be used to help anyone who is looking to buy candles for, say, a power outage. These people are going to want candles that will burn for a long time so that they can have light. Without this experiment they would not know which candles to buy.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

the benefit of my project is that when people are in need of candles they know what color candle to buy for the longest burn.

Background Research

there are more than 100 types of unique wicks. All wicks are made of a bundle of fibers tightly braided, twisted or knitted together. The higher quality wicks are braided plaited or knitted fibers, this helps for a consistent long burn. The cheaper wicks are are twisted and burn faster because they let in more fuel (wax). 4 of the 100 kinds of unique wicks would be the flat wick, the square wick, core wicks and special and oil lamp wicks.

the dyes are mostly organic chemicals derived primarily from petroleum, and are soluble in liquid (molten) wax.
candle wax is made with paraffin. paraffin is an oil distillate, it burned brighter, cleaner and without odor. paraffin was then mixed with stearic acid which which hardened the wax essentially making a cheaper, more superior candle.

the melting temperature for paraffin wax is 125-129 degrees fahrenheit. the Pouring temperature is 160 degrees fahrenheit

References

Abstract

My problem scenario was that I would want to know what color candles burn longest. My hypothesis was that all the candles would go out at the same time. To conduct this I placed six candles together, burnt them, and marked what time they went out at. My results showed that the darker candles seemed to burn a little bit faster than lighter colored candles. My conclusions were that if the candle is a darker color it will burn out slightly faster. The opposite goes for lighter colored candles.